Budget Director John Nixon, left, looks on after Gov. Rick Snyder proposes the state's new budget at the Romney Building in Lansing on Feb. 17, 2011. / Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press

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Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

LANSING — Genesee Intermediate School District, not a company headed by the brother of Michigan's state budget director, has been awarded a $5-million school technology grant, the Department of Education announced Friday.

Bidding for the project became controversial this week when it was revealed that a Utah-based company that persuaded lawmakers to add money for the project into the 2013-14 state budget is headed by William Nixon, the brother of Michigan Budget Director John Nixon.

William Nixon’s company, iSchool Campus LLC, was among six bidders for the “whole school technology” pilot project intended to test whether a single company could better handle all technology needs of a school.

But another bidder, Genesee ISD, has been awarded the project, State Superintendent of Education Mike Flanagan announced Friday.

Flanagan said in a news release that the application from Genesee was rated the highest in a process that conceals the names of the applicants from the scorers.

The scoring was completed in late October and the final results were already being tabulated when the Nixon connection made news, he said.

“When Flanagan saw that an issue had been raised with this grant, he called his staff together to ensure that the process had maintained its fidelity and integrity,” the news release said.

Flanagan said he said he decided to expedite the announcement of the grant award to “put to rest any suspicion of impropriety.”

John Nixon said he erected “a firewall” between his department and the process as soon as he learned of the interest from iSchool Campus LLC, and played no part in the $5-million allocation being added to the budget. He said he also directed that the bidding for the project be handled by the Department of Education, not the Department of Technology, Management and Budget that he heads.

Democrats complained that Nixon only gave a heads-up to key Republican lawmakers about the potential conflict and should have notified them also.